WEBVTT WOMAN WHO HAD GIVEN UP HOPE UNTIL SHE FINALLY GOT THE CORRECT DIAGNOSI MY EXAM IS LOOK I WAS DEAD AND I CAME BACK TO LIFE. MINDY: JUST MONTHS AGO, SHIRLEY BOULOUBASSIS HAD GIVEN UP HOPE. SHE WEIGHED JUST 59 POUNDS. EATING WAS EXTREMELY PAINFUL. SHE THOUGHT HER CHRONIC LIVER DISEASE WAS TO BLAME. >> WITHOUT THE WEIGHT LOSS WAS PART OF THA -- WE THOUGHT THE WEIGHT LOSS WAS PART OF THAT AND IT WAS GETTING WORSE AND WORSE. I HAD A FEEDING TUBE. THE FEEDING TUBE WAS A LOT MORE PAINFUL. MINDY: AFTER SEVERAL YEARS OF LOSING WEIGHT SHE MADE HER WAY TO DR. KURTIS KIM, THE DIRECTOR OF THE VASCULAR LABORATORY AT MERCY MEDICAL CENTER. HE IMMEDIATELY RECOGNIZED WHAT WAS WRONG, IT WAS NOT HER LIVER DISEASE. IT WAS CHRONIC MESENTERIC ISCHEMIA, THE NARROWING OF BLOOD VESSELS TO THE SMALL INTESTINE. MEXICAN IMAGINE AS THEY EAT, THE MUSCLES IT NEEDS T FEED BLOOD FLOW, THEIR STOMACH STARTS TO HAVE PAIN. MINDY: THE SUFFERER CAN END UP STARVING TO DEATH. >> THEY WOULD LIKE TO EAT BUT ONCE THEY EAT, ABOUT 20 MINUTES, 30 MINUTES LATER, THEY GET THIS SEVERE PAIN. OVERTIME, THEY START EATING LESS AND LESS. MINDY: DR. KIM PERFORMED SURGERY RIGHT AWAY INSERTING A STENT. SHIRLEY FELT BETTER IMMEDIATELY. SHE IS NOW ABLE TO EAT PAIN FREE AND HAS GAINED MORE THAN 20 POUNDS IN TWO MONTHS >> I HAD BEEN UP HOPE. I THOUGHT, MY WEIGHT KEEPS GOING LOWER AND LOWER. I AM AT -- EVENTUALLY GOING TO MELT AWAY AND NOW I FEEL LIKE IT HAS GIVEN BACK TO ME. I AM HAPPY AGAIN. I LOOK FORWARD TO SPENDING TIME WITH MY FAMILY. MY AMAZING FAMIL

Imagine if it were so painful to eat that you lost half your body weight and you didn't understand why.One woman said she had given up hope until she finally got the correct diagnosis."I almost feel like I was dead and came back to life," Shirley Bouloubassis said.Just months ago, Bouloubassis had given up hope. She weighed just 59 pounds. Eating was extremely painful. She thought her chronic liver disease was to blame."We thought that the weight loss was part of that. It was getting worse and worse. I had a feeding tube didn't seem to help. It was actually a lot more painful," Bouloubassis said.After several years of losing weight she made her way to Dr. Kurtis Kim, director of the Vascular Laboratory at Mercy Medical Center. He immediately recognized what was wrong -- chronic mesenteric ischemia -- the narrowing of blood vessels to the small intestine."You can have an intestinal artery that narrows over time with plaque and cholesterol. You can imagine as they eat, their stomachs start to have pain," Kim said.The sufferer can end up starving to death."Usually patient presents with what's called 'food fear,' so they like to eat, but once they eat, about 20 minutes later, they get this severe pain, so overtime they are eating less and less," Kim said.Kim performed surgery right away, inserting a stent. Bouloubassis felt better immediately. She is now able to eat pain-free, and has gained more than 20 pounds in two months."I had given up hope. I thought my weight keeps going lower and lower and lower. I'm just eventually going to melt away, and now I feel like it's all been given back to me and I'm happy again, and looking forward to spending time with my family, my amazing family," Bouloubassis said.

BALTIMORE —

Imagine if it were so painful to eat that you lost half your body weight and you didn't understand why.

One woman said she had given up hope until she finally got the correct diagnosis.

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"I almost feel like I was dead and came back to life," Shirley Bouloubassis said.

Just months ago, Bouloubassis had given up hope. She weighed just 59 pounds. Eating was extremely painful. She thought her chronic liver disease was to blame.

"We thought that the weight loss was part of that. It was getting worse and worse. I had a feeding tube didn't seem to help. It was actually a lot more painful," Bouloubassis said.

After several years of losing weight she made her way to Dr. Kurtis Kim, director of the Vascular Laboratory at Mercy Medical Center. He immediately recognized what was wrong -- chronic mesenteric ischemia -- the narrowing of blood vessels to the small intestine.

"You can have an intestinal artery that narrows over time with plaque and cholesterol. You can imagine as they eat, their stomachs start to have pain," Kim said.

The sufferer can end up starving to death.

"Usually patient presents with what's called 'food fear,' so they like to eat, but once they eat, about 20 minutes later, they get this severe pain, so overtime they are eating less and less," Kim said.

Kim performed surgery right away, inserting a stent. Bouloubassis felt better immediately. She is now able to eat pain-free, and has gained more than 20 pounds in two months.

"I had given up hope. I thought my weight keeps going lower and lower and lower. I'm just eventually going to melt away, and now I feel like it's all been given back to me and I'm happy again, and looking forward to spending time with my family, my amazing family," Bouloubassis said.